Hailing from Philadelphia, PA now comes The End A.D. featuring members from Anvil Bitch, Dominance, Deadspot, Savage Silence, Power Theory and Shotgun Wedding to name a few. This self-titled four song EP is their introduction to the rest of the world.

The disc opens up with "Wendy O" (a tribute to the late/great Wendy O. Williams of Plasmatics fame, I hope?) The band comprised of veteran players are extremely tight as a unit and keep everything in the pocket, so to speak, with their chugging rhythms, breakdowns and solos. "Happy Now" is a fast-paced rocker with a catchy melody and bar room boogie-woogie swing that compliments the more abrasive riffing nicely. Vocalist Otto Luck reminds me a lot of Taime Downe (Faster Pussycat) both in his pitch and overall delivery as first evidenced on "Germs Burn".

"Crawling From The Wreckage" is probably the most pummeling of the five songs on tap with a lot of double-kick fury courtesy of drummer Lorin Savadore building the foundation of thunder for some strange vocal effects employed by vocalist Otto Luck. "Obsession" has a frantic feel to it, a bit of a modern sound and more unorthodox vocal effects. Guitarists Paul Juestrich and John Plumley do a fine job trading off leads on solos on this CD I bet this is a really fun band to catch live.

My copy of the five-song EP is a cardboard promo, so not sure if this is just a stop-gap release until a full-length debut surfaces but either way it's a nice introduction to The End A.D. and I would encourage fans of the aforementioned bands who make-up this group to give them a shot and see what you think!